1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reproduction system comprising a signal processor (AV amplifier), a television set and so on.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the use of home theater systems is widespread among the general public, in which a plurality of speakers are set around the user to provide different but cooperative sounds, thereby giving the user the feeling of being at alive performance (see JP-A-2003-298975, for example). A typical home theater system includes a television set, an AV amplifier connected to the TV set, a plurality of external speakers connected to the amplifier, and a source unit such as a DVD (digital versatile disc) player connected to the amplifier.
As for the so-called AV (audio/visual) equipment such as an AV amplifier constituting the home theater system, types which conform to HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), a digital input/output standard for image signals and audio signals, have been proposed. The equipment conforming to HDMI is connected by an HDMI cable for transmitting and receiving image signals, audio signals and control signals through the HDMI cable.
The television set may include a display panel such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display. Image signals to be reproduced by a DVD player are inputted via an AV amplifier and outputted to the display panel. Generally, a television set has a tuner incorporated for receiving television broadcasting. The television set may be provided with a composite terminal or an S (separate) terminal for connection to e.g. a VHS (video home system) equipment and with a component terminal for transmitting component image signals. When the television set conforms to HDMI, an HDMI input terminal is also provided.
In displaying an image by the television set of such an image reproduction system, in addition to television broadcasting, the user can select one of the image signal sources (hereinafter referred to as “input sources”) connected to the input terminal. On the display screen of the television set, as shown in FIG. 13, an input selection list for enabling the user to select an input source is displayed. Specifically, the input selection screen includes “television broadcasting”, “composite input”, “S terminal input”, “component input”, “HDMI input 1” and “HDMI input 2”, which are the names of the input sources which can be dealt with by the television set.
The user can select a desired one from the displayed input sources by e.g. moving a cursor using a remote control for the television set. Specifically, when a video apparatus conforming to the S-VHS standard is connected to the S terminal input and the user wants to reproduce images from the video apparatus, the user operates the remote controller to select the “S terminal input”.
The AV amplifier may include an input terminal for a set-top box for receiving cable television services, a game input terminal for connecting a game console and an HDMI input terminal for connecting e.g. a DVD player.
The above image reproduction system has the following problems. When an AV amplifier is connected to the HDMI input terminal and a DVD player is connected to the AV amplifier, the user has to perform a troublesome operation to reproduce the image from the DVD player on the television set.
For instance, when the user wants to select the “DVD player” among all the input sources, the user first needs to select nothing but the “HDMI input 1” from the items of the above-described input selection list by using the remote control, because the “HDMI input 1”, not the “DVD player”, shows on the display screen.
Thereafter, the user may further need to select the “DVD player” as the input source by using the remote control for the AV amplifier, since the input source is not necessarily switched to the “DVD player” at the AV amplifier.
In the conventional system, as described above, when the user wants to select the DVD player, the user needs to perform the troublesome operations to select the HDMI input terminal at the television set and select the DVD player at the AV amplifier.